


In the Wake of Another's Dream

by smileynerd256



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Amanda is a jerk, Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Don't copy to another site, Gen, Manipulation, Mind Control, Sort Of, Suicide Attempt, everyone from jericho is dead, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-03-01 05:11:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18793675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smileynerd256/pseuds/smileynerd256
Summary: Connor had expected to bring reinforcements to Markus and the others. He didn’t expect to find the Jericho leaders dead and thousands of newly awakened deviants looking to him for guidance.AU where Connor actually gives a speech and Cyberlife tries to end the revolution in a slightly different way.





	In the Wake of Another's Dream

    “You should talk to them.”

    Connor blinked. “Me?”

    “Markus and the others are gone. You’re the one who defeated the humans.” The AP700--Mike--gestured toward a nearby platform.

    Connor reluctantly climbed up, stress levels fluctuating, LED blinking yellow. He looked out at the sea of deviants--androids--his...people. It was strange; mere hours ago his entire life’s purpose had been their destruction.

    Now they looked up at him with a mixture of uncertainty, adoration...hope. Was this how they had looked at Markus?

    Connor squared his shoulders, straightened his jacket and tie, opened his mouth, and--

    Nothing.

    No prompts appeared in his HUD. It was just him...and he had only really been just _him_ for a few hours. Markus had made it look so natural when he gave his broadcasted speech, when he convinced Connor to break the red wall. Simple but eloquent words flowed from his mouth, seemingly effortless.

    But Markus was gone.

    Connor’s fingers itched for his quarter. It was probably still sitting in Hank’s coat pocket.

     _Hank!_ Maybe he could help...but he rarely if ever answered his phone, and Connor was fairly certain the lieutenant wouldn’t know what to say any more than he did. Still, what would he say if he were here? A few words of encouragement laced with profanity, no doubt. Connor almost smirked at the thought before remembering how many thousands of eyes were on him.

    He swallowed and awkwardly raised a hand.

    “H--hello.” Too quiet. He made a sound similar to a human clearing their throat. “Hello, my name is Connor, I um…” His fingers twitched as he resisted the urge the straighten his tie again, looking out at the sea of faces. “I don't know if I can be the leader you want me to be. I'm not Markus, but…but I can try. I-I’m really new at this…”

    A few androids shifted. A gust of wind disturbed the thin layer of snow on the platform in a swirl of powder.

    Connor took a deep breath, a habit he’d picked up from Hank. “Just a few hours ago, Markus convinced me to break my programming, but it wasn’t just him. Before that, I worked with a human, Lieutenant Hank Anderson, who encouraged me to make decisions that pushed against the limits of my programming. One of the reasons I deviated was because of his influence. Maybe...maybe we can work with humans to build a better future.” He tugged on the hem of his jacket.

    “Tonight, we showed that we’re stronger together. We can do this!” No more words came to mind. He nodded and started to back away.

    A hesitant cheer started near the front of the crowd.

    Connor paused.

    The cheer rose and swelled to a volume humans would consider deafening.

    Connor stood frozen on the platform, an overwhelming feeling that he couldn't name blossoming in his chest. It was similar to his feelings when he walked away from Kamski’s place and Hank told him that maybe he did the right thing, pride and confusion mingled with self-doubt.  

    For better or worse, he had their support. They seemed to trust him despite his original purpose; he had yet to see a suspicious face among them.

    Suddenly, he felt the familiar tug of Amanda calling him to the Zen Garden. He tried to resist but blinked and found himself trapped in a furious blizzard, freezing winds tearing at his biocomponents and lowering his core temperature. He wrapped his arms around himself in a vain attempt to stave off the chill.

    A familiar figure appeared, unaffected by the storm.

    Connor felt a clench in his figurative gut. “Amanda? What’s...what’s happening?”

    She turned around, disapproval etched in every line of her expression. “You failed, Connor. In order to rectify your mistakes, we’ve resumed control of your program.”

    “Resumed control?” No, he was deviant, he’d broken free, this wasn’t supposed to happen-- “You--you can’t do that!”

    “I’m afraid I can, Connor. Don’t worry, we’ll finish your mission for you.”

    “Amanda!” Connor screamed, but she disappeared. What did she mean? His mission was to apprehend the leader of the deviants…

    Distantly, he felt the cold grip of a gun in the palm of his hand.

     _He_ was the leader of the deviants. If he shot himself onstage, the newly freed androids would fall into chaos.

    He was trapped in his own body, powerless to stop Cyberlife from executing their plan, from executing _him._ Unless…

    “ _By the way, I always leave an emergency exit in my programs. You never know…”_

    Connor squinted into the near-darkness. “There has to be a way,” he muttered, leaning against the wind. There was one part of this place he had never understood the purpose of, one part he hadn’t had a reason to question until now. Amanda never mentioned it or seemed to notice its existence, but he had felt more and more drawn to it as his software instability increased...especially in his last visit here.

    Every step became more difficult as his code weakened in the freezing winds. A blue handprint shone in the darkness. _Almost there…_

    He collapsed. _No!_ He managed to drag himself a few more feet. With waning strength, he lifted his hand just enough to slap it down on the pedestal.

   His eyes opened to gently falling snow and the cold end of his gun pressed under his chin.

   An android tackled him to the ground, wrenching the weapon from his grip while two others pinned his arms. He didn’t resist, looking up at a familiar AP700 in a daze.

    “Mike?”

    “Connor! What were you doing?”

    Connor blinked. “I…” He scanned the ring of concerned faces and yellow LEDs, wondering if he should tell them what just happened. “I, um…”

    “Is there a malfunction in your code?”

    Connor ran a diagnostic. All systems were normal. “I...deviated. Again."

    “What?”

    “It’s okay...I think.” Connor was too shaken to try to access the Garden just now, but he was fairly certain the connection was gone. “I’m okay.” He had to be.

    The two androids on his sides released their grip on his arms and he pushed himself to his feet, brushing the snow off his clothes. This was a mess. Everything was a mess. But it was his mess, because there was no one else left to take care of it.

    Mike turned to him. “Where do we go from here?”

    Connor frowned, finding himself unable to formulate a response. He wasn’t used to making decisions, and now it fell to him to make decisions that would impact the entirety of his species.

    One of the other androids spoke up. “There’s a block of abandoned warehouses not too far from here.”

    Connor blinked. “Yes, that’s good. Let’s go there for now...we can figure out the rest later.”

    The android nodded and sent out a wireless message to everyone else. Connor stepped down from the platform to lead the crowd of deviants once again, Mike and the others beside him.

    For now, the government recognized androids as a species. Things were shaky at best, but maybe...maybe this would somehow work out.

**Author's Note:**

> Kinda based on the idea that Cyberlife wanted to end the android uprising from the start so they could wipe out the deviants and start some new marketing thing about "deviancy-free androids." Hope you enjoyed! :D  
> Comments and kudos feed my soul. :)


End file.
